EIT InnoEnergy & Skellefteå Science City partner to build a world-class battery manufacturing cluster

EIT InnoEnergy welcomes Skellefteå Science City as a new partner and Gold member of its Innovation Ecosystem.

Created in 2015, Skellefteå Science City focuses on stimulating innovation in established companies as well as creating the conditions for new innovative companies in the city of Skellefteå, Sweden. The partnership has the ambition to establish Skellefteå as a word-class cluster for battery manufacturing and recycling while ultimately supporting Europe’s transition to a cleaner energy future. It was officially announced during Energy ConFusion last week, a three-day business meetup and conference focused on clean energy solutions.

Northern Sweden is known for extensive access to clean energy at Europe’s lowest cost. The region is also a world leader in the mining and recycling of metals. Combining these with the proximity of academia and research resources, Skellefteå succeeded in attracting the largest European investment to date in a large-scale battery manufacturing facility led by Northvolt. Committed to growing fast, the city is now executing an ambitious expansion plan that EIT InnoEnergy will support, partnering with Skellefteå Science City.

Skellefteå is ideally positioned to become the centre for battery activities in northern Europe. However, its expansion plan presents several challenges that cannot be solved in isolation. Collaboration is key. We are keen on partnering with Skellefteå Science City to support the industrial development, demographic expansion and economic growth of Skellefteå, while accelerating the transition to a clean energy future.

Kenneth Johansson, CEO at EIT InnoEnergy Scandinavia

EIT InnoEnergy has identified several areas of collaboration for a long-term success. These include supporting the mission to attract human capital and develop critical skills, accessing cutting-edge innovation within early-stage technology ventures, facilitating interaction and collaboration with industrial and innovation actors at an international level, notably thanks to EIT InnoEnergy’s role in the European Battery Alliance.

About Skellefteå Science City:

Skellefteå Science City is co-owned by Skellefteå municipality and power company Skellefteå Kraft.  their mission is to accelerate innovation in established business and stimulate start-ups, cultivating the innovation landscape by:

• Coordinating, developing and enhancing the regions innovation support scheme.
• Creating and running training programs/courses/projects for established business.
• Creating areas of innovation.
• Creating business clusters.

Getting access to the ecosystem that EIT InnoEnergy provides is crucial for the development of the energy cluster in Skellefteå. A partnership with EIT InnoEnergy makes education, research, cooperation and innovation at European level possible, and our ambition to position Skellefteå at the centre of the energy transition in Europe is now reachable!

Johnny Högberg, CEO at Skellefteå Science City